Secret Guards: Junior Division
by creed801
Summary: Ermo is just a regular teenager, but is he. Join Ermo on his journey that has been thrusted upon him at the death of his father. What secrets are left behind and what it means to step up to the responsibility befallen to him.


This is my first story that I have ever written. The idea just popped into my head one day and I have been writing the story ever since. I don't know when I will post each chapter but this will be a good way for me to continue to write everyday. So here is my original story "Secret Guards: Junior Division", enjoy and please comment so I can better the story even though I have ideas for the first seven chapters.

Chapter 1

Where am I?

I'm in the middle of nowhere. I haven't a clue as to my location. Spent three years in boy scouts and I have no idea which way is north, or I am facing south. Anyway, all I know is that I need to stay here until they come for me.

Should I be worried?

Yes.

Am I. Well, that's debatable as of yet.

My name is Ermo Sapienti, and I'm a fifteen-year-old from Portland, Maine. Here I am, alone, with no one. Just standing here, waiting for…..

"Ermo Sap… Sapienti".

"Yes." If I don't make it out of these woods, tell my favourite dogs I loved them. My parents, well, I love my dogs more.

"Oh, thank god. Because if I went back to the academy without you, the Headmaster would…. well that's not important. What is important is that I found you."

"Academy. What academy and where exactly am I".

"Switzerland." Did I hear him correctly? I'm not in the United States. Do I even have my passport with me? How was I allowed to leave without one of my parents with me? I'm so confused right now.

"Umm, Switzerland"? As in I'm in Europe; this is great. Perfect, because if my parents didn't want me around anymore, they should have just sent me to a boarding school in Connecticut. But Switzerland, I mean, I don't even know where Switzerland is located. Is it between any critical countries that I know of, like France or the United Kingdom. I really should have paid more attention to boy scouts or paid attention in geography. I know that Switzerland was neutral in World War II, but other than that I was staring at the girl in front of me with the crazy curly hair and glasses. I'll never get to see…

"Well, to be more exact, the Bernese Alps. The location of the academy helps with…"

"Wait a second. You know my name, what's yours", said Ermo.

"Forgive the rudeness. My name is Lair", said Lair

"Lair, like a secret room in a medieval castle"said Ermo. Weird name for a guy.

"No, It is pronounced Lah-ree. Its origin is Finnish", said Lair.

"No offence Lair, but what exactly am I doing in Switzerland", said Ermo.

"Oh, the Academy for Junior Guards", said Lair.

"Ummm", said Ermo.

Lair began talking again,"The headmaster will tell you everything once you arrive. Speaking of which, we need to get going so you don't miss dinner and the tour of the Academy".

As Lair drives through the woods, I wonder if there was a story I missed growing up. I know my Nonno would tell me tales about a group who helped protect the Pope and anyone in the Vatican. But that's what the Swiss Army is for; it can't be that. Maybe it's a secret spy school, like the ones in the movies or just a regular boarding school for those who have no life. But I haven't seen my Nonno is years.

I'm hoping it's the latter option. For one, being a fifteen-year-old and second, I failed the rope challenge in gym class. How in the world could I be a spy or a guard of any kind? I can barely do a proper pull-up in gym class, my legs just flop around in the middle of the air. Like a fish out of water.

As Lair drives up the mountain to the academy all I can think about is how my life will change once I enter the doors or gates. I wonder if the academy has gates, like the ones you see located out front of fancy homes.

"If you look out to the right side you can see the lights of the academy as we arrive", said Lair.

I scooted to the right side of the car and saw a distant light through the woods as the car continues to wind up the road.

From a distance, I can see more and more lights until I can see a distant building as we get closer. To my astonishment, there is not a metal gate. Bummer I was really hoping there would be. Lair turns up the roundabout drive and stops in front of the entrance. Waiting out front is a middle-aged man holding a lantern.

"Welcome to Ogden, my name is Ber".

Ber may be middle-aged but he is well built and if I am correct should be around 6ft 5in and close to 200 pounds of lean muscle with blonde hair. Again why would a scrawny teenager be at a spy or guard school. As Ber speaks I can detect a thick accent but cannot place where it could have come from

Ber leads us through the front doors and into the corridor where I am met by a female student who looks to be my age. She is standing in front of me with her arms crossed and an angry scowl on her face. She turns and looks at Lair.

"Headmaster has been worried and what to you so long to pickup…", she said.

She turns her head and gives a good look at me.

"This is the one you went to pick up", as she looks at Lair.

"Yes Enid", said Lair.

With a chuckle, Enid turns back to Lair and Ber " I'll take Ermo to the dining hall where he can grab a quick bite to eat since he missed dinner with the other students and then to the headmaster's office".

Enid starts walking towards what I assume to be the dining hall and stops abruptly before me and without turning around saying "You better be worth all this trouble".

I stare at her back confused until she starts to move and the doors open into the dining hall which is empty of any students except Enid and I. I walk towards the table that is set for two people and sit down on the other side of Enid.

"So….. um Enid," I say before taking a bite out of my sandwich and swallow the lump in my throat. "Why am I here?"

"You are here because your father passed away recently am I correct", said Enid. My parents divorced when I was young, and I haven't seen my actual dad in years. Once my mom remarried there was no need. She would always tell me of how much of a low life my dad was. The last time I saw my dad was ten years ago during my fifth birthday. After that, poof it's like he didn't exist to my mom or to me.

"What"?

"Crap, you didn't know". Enid gives me a look that is a mix of sympathy and anger. "When was the last time you spoke to your dad'?

"Almost ten years, I was never really close to my actual dad. However, I am close to my stepdad".

Enid looks at me while taking a bite of her sandwich. Before saying anything, Enid stands up and looks down at her wrist. "We need to go and meet with the headmaster now so you can get your schedule and your room situation".

I'm about to protest since I haven't finished my sandwich, but the look Enid gives says protesting would not be wise. Enid leads the way up towards the corridor until we reach the stairs and as I'm about to take my first step my arm is grabbed.

"Not that way newbie", said Enid.

Instead of going up the stairs, Enid pushes against the wall, and a door opens leading downstairs to the headmaster's office. On the way to the office paintings of past headmasters and headmistress lead the way; you can barely see the faces as the hallway is dimly lite. Which is how I end up on the floor. Did I mention that I am not cut out for whatever this is? Maybe I can be behind the scenes where it is safe, like giving directions on what rooms to go into. Yeah, that sounds a lot better.

Unfortunately, for me, that is not what happens once we meet the headmaster who looks like a mixture of your old school British professors and the guy you have always wanted to be like. The headmaster is not old, I would say late 40's early 50's. But don't let that fool you, he is even taller than Ber which I didn't know could be possible. As Enid and the headmaster start to talk in hush tones, I am able to get a better view of his office, and it is as precise as I thought it would look. On the wall closest to me is a current painting of the headmaster and as I take a step closer to examine the picture, I notice a name in tiny print carved into the wooden frame '_William de' Hugh- Headmaster est. 2004'. _

The headmaster looks too young to be in charge of the academy for the past fourteen years. I don't dwell on the fact for too long as I continue to scan the room I notice in the middle of the back corner is a desk with two lamps on each end of the desk and a computer to the right side of the desk and writing unreels to the left side. Before I have a chance to look around the room further, I hear my name being called by the headmaster.

When I turn around Enid is walking toward one of the chairs opposite of the headmaster. Both sit down in the respective chairs at the same time, and I slowly move towards the only open chair available. I fidget in my seat until Enid kicks the leg of my chair and when I look up, she has a scowl on her face.

"Now you may be wondering why you are in Switzerland and not in Maine, but first I am Headmaster William de' Hugh".

I give a slight nod, too afraid to look up at the headmaster.

"You may be wondering why you are here and rest assured I will explain everything to you. While you were looking around my office, Enid told me you haven't spoken to your father since you were five, is that correct", said Headmaster de' Hugh

"Yes"

"and Enid told you the news about your dad", said Headmaster de' Hugh?

Looking at the ground, I give a slight nod. I may not have been close to my dad, but he was still my dad. He sent me birthday cards every year, even though I never saw him. It was just my parents and myself when their marriage ended. I don't remember everything about that time because I would always go to my neighbor's house, Mrs Zynda. She always asked if I had dinner if I said no she would feed me her favourite Polish dishes and if I said yes she would give me a plate of her famous Polish paczki. Which are like jelly stuffed doughnuts, but better. I would stay at her house until my mom or dad came for me. Most of the time it was my mom, and she would try to hide the fact that she had been crying. In moments like those, I learned very early on never to ask because she would never tell me and I never saw any bruises on her, but I couldn't see everything.

"Your dad, he was part of a secret organization. In fact, it is your bloodline to do so", said Headmaster de' Hugh.

"What do you mean in my bloodline'?

"Every student here comes from a bloodline whose ancestors had been part of the original guards to the Pope or other political profile", said Headmaster de' Hugh. " Each firstborn, no matter the gender is placed on a list so when the time comes, we can find them. Your father was the first born in his family, and so was his mother, and so on. It may sound confusing, but once you get situated, we have your family tree, where you can see where it all started.

I sit there and as any sane and rational fifteen-year-old, I laugh. I mean deep belly laugh with tears streaming down my face. Because this is ludicrous, my dad a guard for the Pope or some other political figure, yeah right. This can't be happening, and they want me to take over his spot. I tripped just walking down the hallway to the office here. There is no way. Absolutely no way I can be what the Headmaster just said.

When I look up, I see the faces of both Enid and Headmaster de' Hugh in a worrisome way. I need to get out of here because this is to weird for me. I want to go home back to Portland and be as far away from Switzerland. In my urgency to leave I knock the chair backwards, unfortunately I am still sitting in the chair.

"I think this was too much of a shock for him".

"No offence headmaster, but what did you expect. Finding out that his nonexistent father had a perfect reason for not being around. I blame his mom.

"Don't bring my mom into this", I say as I slowly open my eyes from the embarrassment of my chair falling over.

"But it's true. If she didn't try to change your dad and change who you are, someone in this room would know what is going on", said Enid.

"Enid, why don't let me talk with Ermo alone", said Headmaster de' Hugh.

"Fine", said Enid.

In a swift and graceful movement, Enid leaves the office and closes the door behind her. I rest my head on the headrest of the chair when I notice movement beside me. Headmaster de' Hugh is sitting next to me with a sad look on his face. It's a look I had seen before, from Mrs Zynda use to give me the same look when I was younger. The rest of my family when my dad officially left and never came back. We sit like this until my back starts to hurt from the odd angle of the chair.

When I start to get up Headmaster de' Hugh offers me a hand.

"It will become easier", said Headmaster de'Hugh.

I didn't know how it would though. All I knew was that my dad's dead and my mom never told me. Was it just her way of protecting me, but if so what could she have been protecting me from, unless she knew about my dad's secret. Was that the real reason for him leaving us, to protect us from any threats. I can't seem to wrap my head around everything, and my face gives me away.

Again Headmaster de' Hugh says "It will become easier. You may not think so now, but you have two options before you. The first that you accept your birthright as a guardian and live to uphold the oath that every guardian takes when they start at the junior level. The oath is the same that Enid follows and also your dad. The second is that you walk away from this right now, but that means one of your younger cousins will need to take your place to keep your families lineage going. I will let you sleep on the decision".

I had an out to all of the crazy madness, but that would mean my eight-year-old cousin Kendall would have to take my place. She's not old enough understand that there are mean people in this world, she is too naive about life and I would never forgive myself if something happened to her. Without even thinking of my answer I blurt out "I'll do it".

I'll do it.

This phrase will forever haunt my subconscious for the remainder of my life, but what choice do I have. If I don't do this, then someone else takes my place, someone who is much younger than me and they would keep going down the line until there is no one else.

Headmaster turns around from the door and says "are you sure, this is a big decision that you cannot take back".

"Yes, because I need to do this. Not just for me, but for my family".

"Very well then, head up to the dormitories as it is very late. I will explain more in the morning as well as you take the oath".

When I leave the Headmasters office, I find Enid waiting for me. She doesn't say anything except for a single nod of her head indicating that I should follow her. We walk back the same way we came and arrive back at the main hall where we go up the flight of steps I initially thought to take when meeting the Headmaster.

As we climb the stairs to the sixth floor, I notice each level has a different colour scheme going on. The first floor is blue, the second is grey, the third is yellow, the fourth is red, the fifth is orange, and the sixth floor is purple. I'm about to ask Enid what the colours mean when she stops at the landing "your room number is 617, Lair brought your luggage to your room. The floor is broken down into to wings. The boy's wing consists of rooms 600- 625, whereas the girl's wing consists of rooms 626-650. You neither sexes are allowed into each others wing, do I make myself clear. Your bathroom is at the end of the hall".

With that Enid hands me my keys, turns and starts walking towards the girl's wing. I walk down the corridor until I am in front of room 617 and as I open the door I'm hit with the realisation that this room will be my home for how long. Do we get summer breaks here, will I move down to any other floor or is 617 my home until who knows when. I take a look around my room and notice a full-size bed in the middle of the room with trunk at the end of the bed, a dresser to the left, my desk to the right, and my closet directly to my left. The room was spacious enough, but it wasn't home. I would need to talk to someone about adding decorations.

I change and get ready for bed, but sleep eludes me and before I know it the sun is rising and decide to take a quick shower before the rest get up for the day. Unfortunately for me, I was wrong about them still being asleep. When I walk into the bathroom, I see all of my wingmates getting ready for the day. I decided that introducing myself to mostly naked guys was not the best strategy and walked over to an open shower.

As I turn the water on I can feel eyes on my back, but decided to ignore them for now. Once I am down with my shower, I am met by one of my wingmates. He is tall with red hair, and green eyes and has a Scottish accent. Before I can say anything, the person informant of me starts talking.

"My name is Albert Reid, and I am the head boy for this floor. Headmaster wants me to bring you to the dining hall and to show you around the grounds now that it is daylight". Albert steered me toward the stairs, and as we descended in the morning rush for the dining hall, I was able to see my surroundings better than the previous night.

As we walked down the stairs, I could see the history of the castle more clearly. Not the paintings that lined the walls, but how some parts of the walls had a worn look to them and the smell was there. Not an unpleasant smell, but one of something that has been around for a very long time and has seen its fair share of history waiting to tell its tale and age. Albert leads us to the entrance of the dining hall but stops to shake hands to a fellow student and laugh about what the other had said. The dining hall seems to be the central point of the castle as students from different floors converge for breakfast and joke around while there are no professors around.

Albert leads us to a small table near the other end of the hall, where we place ours belongs down before going to grab a tray and select breakfast. Albert stood in front of me telling me which breakfast items were the best and needed to be grabbed quickly as they would be gone faster than replaced. Halfway through line Albert started to tell me his story " I was twelve when I came to the school", he had a melancholy look on his face as he went on to describe his first year at the school.

"When I first came to the academy, I was confused and angry at my mom. She was my only family, and she never told me anything. By the time I was told the truth, it was already too late and she was gone. I never got to tell her how sorry I was for my behaviour", he said, "I eventually learned the truth about my moms' death, and it drives me harder to stop the organisation". Albert looked up from his plate with a sad look on his face and said: "I will go over all the basic after I give you the tour of the grounds".

I gave a resolute nod as I could already tell Albert didn't want to discuss too much at 7 o'clock in the morning. By the time we finished breakfast, the dining hall was packed with students and faculty. Albert leads the way out of the dining hall, and as we were leaving, I saw Enid talking with a bunch of girls at the centre table in an in-depth discussion. She glanced up at that moment and said something to the girl next to her, and both chuckled as Albert, and I walked by.

Once we leave the centre hall that leads to the dining hall, Albert leads us to the courtyard where we start the tour of the grounds. Albert points to different buildings and tells me the history behind each one, by the time we are almost done with the tour he steers us towards an old abandoned building. " This used to be the old groundskeepers home but was burned down a little over a hundred years ago. Nobody knows why just that one night it was in flames, but that is the biggest mystery to happen on the academy's grounds. You see body knows who did it or why".

"You see", Albert said, " I have a theory about what happened". Albert tells me about the one time the school was infiltrated by the R.O.S.E. The attack happened after the Great War ended and the school had almost been destroyed, but only the groundkeepers home was destroyed and the groundskeeper was never seen again.

"So, you're telling me that the groundskeeper was part of the R.O.S.E"? Albert looked at me then to the old groundkeeper's spot again and simply said "wouldn't be the first mole we've had".

"There've been others who have gone against the school", I asked Albert in a terrified and shocked way. Albert looked over the grounds of the school and said "It's weird in a sense if someone does or not. I mean, we are the firstborns in our families, and our firstborns will always be chosen. There could always be those in our families who are jealous. But then again, my younger siblings are not the brightest bulbs in the bunch."

"You said the R.O.S.E was potentially responsible for the attack, who are the R.O.S.E"? I think Albert won't answer because he keeps staring off and shuffles from one foot to the other, but then he finally says "R.O.S.E stands for Ruminants Order of the Special Extinguished".

"None of us knows when R.O.S.E was started, but that's who we have to guard against, why we train so much because members from R.O.S.E are everywhere. They are responsible for so much death", said Albert. I think he is about to continue but doesn't. There is a sadness in his eyes that wasn't there a moment before, and I realize why he won't talk further about R.O.S.E. "They killed your mom, didn't they" Albert doesn't say anything but a stiff nod of the head and turns towards the school and walks away with me following behind.

When we enter the school again, I am stopped by Headmaster de'Huge who was talking to a professor who I have yet to meet. "Ermo if you have a moment I want to continue with our conversation from last night if you don't mind". I give a quick nod and follow the headmaster back to his office.

"How was the tour that Albert gave this morning". said Headmaster de'Hugh as we enter the confines of the office. The crackling sound of the wood fireplace to my left as I take my seat infant of the desk. "It was okay from what I saw, but I want to go exploring by myself if that's okay with you".

Headmaster de'Hugh looks over from the bookshelf as he brings a book from the fourth row to the desk "I don't see why not, this is your home after all, but if you see anything out of the ordinary you need to let us know immediately. Safety is our key goal here and why the academy is located where it is".

"Do you have any idea of why the school is located in this location", said Headmaster de'Hugh. I think over his words and think back to my journey to the academy. I do know why and it's because of the seclusion from the outside world. The placement in the middle of the mountains and the camouflage from the trees keeps the secret of the location from outsiders. But I feel like I'm missing the point in my answer and say "be of the mountains and the trees"?

Headmaster de'Hugh seems to be thinking over my answer before talking again "that's part of the reason, but there is more which is in this book right here. But the main reason is due to the lack of space for an attack. The academy is surrounded by trees of all shapes and sizes. You saw this when you arrived last night. There is not a lot of space for invaders, and it is quite easy to get lost in the woods if not familiar with the layout of the grounds".

Thinking over his words I could see it now, there is no way a significant attack on the academy could happen from land, it's impossible to happen with how close the trees are to one another.

"But what about an attack today, it could happen from the sky, how does the school protect from aerial attacks"?

"That's a good question, but the answer to that question is in the book and if I am not mistaken chapter twelve or fourteen has the answer. But I wouldn't skip ahead to those chapters because of how we were able to be in the chapter beforehand", says the headmaster with a smirk, "However, you will learn more about the academy is your classes starting tomorrow. Do you have any questions before I let you go for the day"?

I think about what Albert told me on our tour, but think better because like the Headmaster just said I would learn more in class and that would also mean learning about R.O.S.E, "None that I can think of right now".

"That's okay, you're free to go, just don't get lost yet".

I take the book that the Headmaster left on the desk for me to read and head for the library to read before dinner. As I enter the library which is empty except for one or two students, I sit in a chair by the window that overlooks the east grounds. After the first page, I stop and go in search of a notebook because I already have questions that I want to ask Albert or possibly Enid if she will let me talk to her. By the time I get to chapter five, I notice the time and head for dinner. I sit next to Albert again, and he sees the book and notebook but doesn't say anything and heads to grab food.

I'm about to go online when I bump into Enid.


End file.
